Tag: Not For Profit

Alexander V. Litvinenko is dead after suffering an extensive illness he believed was caused by poisoning. A former KGB agent, Litvinenko had become critical of the Russian government. He began feeling ill after meeting in London with two Russians and an Italian security specialist.

In this excerpt from the Truthdig interview, Gore Vidal speaks with Robert Scheer about the Kennedy assassination, Castro and imperialism. For the full video, go to www.truthdig.com and click on “interviews.”

A series of coordinated car bombings and mortar attacks in Baghdad’s Sadr City killed at least 157 161 people and injured 257 (source: AP). Shiite militia members responded to the attacks with their own mortar barrage on the holiest Sunni shrine in Baghdad, making this one of the most violent days in Iraq since the U.S. invasion.

About 300 people made their way to Dallas’ Dealey Plaza on Wednesday to observe the 43rd anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The mix of people included everyone from amateur historians to Elvis impersonators.

The power shift in Washington has sent lobbying firms scrambling to snap up Democrats, and left some interest groups—the pharmaceutical industry, for instance—wondering who their friends are. On the other hand, Melinda Pierce, who lobbies for the Sierra Club, couldn’t be happier.

The man who held the post of speaker longer than any Republican in history is now but one of a multitude, serving out his last days in the Congress he helped to lose. Denny Hastert’s refusal to retire makes him a historical oddity, since House speakers typically end their reigns by either resigning or dying.

What may be remembered someday as one of the strangest moments of George W. Bush’s presidency took place last week in Vietnam, when he chose to mention the American defeat there in the same breath as our failing occupation of Iraq.

It hasn’t the zesty political punch of that Reagan-era effort to turn ketchup into a vegetable. But really, could there be a more unfortunate time for the Agriculture Department to banish the word “hunger” from its description of people who are, well, hungry?

A European Union oversight committee has concluded that the data sharing program between the U.S. and a European financial consortium broke the law by violating the civil liberties of European citizens. The decision may prompt the EU’s ruling body to sue Belgium for allowing the program to continue.

Confused and panicked by plainclothes police officers attempting to serve a warrant, the elderly woman shot three police officers before being killed herself. A new Cato Institute report estimates that 40,000 such paramilitary-style raids take place each year—courtesy of America’s criminally wrongheaded approach to drug control.

The new Marine commandant has said the corps must have more members to meet its requirement in Iraq, or it is likely to suffer long-term consequences. While the Army has routinely extended deployments for its troops in Iraq, the Marines have limited the practice in an attempt to give members more time at home than at war.

Slate calls Bush’s new family planning chief, Dr. Eric Keroack, a “crazy” choice for the job. And reading Slate’s profile, it’s clear that Bush’s selection is akin to making Jack Abramoff head of an ethics reform panel.

UPDATE: Google has removed the video.
Watch this chilling, full-length documentary (produced by UK’s Channel 4) showing Shiite militia groups waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Baghdad. It contains footage and details never before seen in the West. Watch it, and read the accompanying article.

Using a cutting-edge array of 3-D ultrasound scans and tiny cameras, a British production team has produced images of the entire gestation process of many different animals, like this developing elephant (above). The images are to air on National Geographic next month.

Radio host Melanie Morgan launches a right-wing tirade against Nancy Pelosi, saying: “We’ve got a bull’s-eye painted on her big, wide, laughing eyes.” Later in the clip, the pundits on the show are then too fixated by a discussion of Pelosi’s style of blinking to offer a more nuanced critique of House leadership.

President Bush is set to travel to Jordan next week for a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The event might be a bit uncomfortable for the pair, now that the Iraqi government has responded to the flirtations of Iran and Syria.

We can’t say we’re surprised that Joe Lieberman has chosen as his spokesman an ideological acrobat—the only Jew ever to serve as chief lobbyist for the Christian Coalition. The New York Times describes Marshall Wittmann as “a Trotskyite turned Zionist turned Reaganite turned bipartisan irritant turned pretty much everything in between….”

The auteur filmmaker behind “MASH” died of complications from cancer. An unconventional artist, Altman was nominated for five best-directing Academy Awards over the years, and won an honorary statue this year.

It’s spreading fastest in Eastern and Central Asia and Eastern Europe, but almost two-thirds of the world’s cases are in sub-Saharan Africa. “AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria make up the deadliest triad the world has known,” said the U.N.‘s Kofi Annan.

From a Boston University paper: “Looking to draw attention to what they call the ‘worst form of bigotry confronting America today,’ ” the school’s “Republicans are circulating an application for a ‘Caucasian Achievement and Recognition Scholarship’ that requires applicants be at least 25 percent Caucasian.”

Marriage rates in France are about 45 percent below U.S. levels. Whence the trend? Theories: This (French) generation’s nearly universal rejection of religion, and a massive migration to more independent-friendly urban areas.

Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Borat) has secured a salary in excess of $30 million for his next film, in which he will portray Bruno, the gay “voice of Austrian youth TV,” who mercilessly mocks denizens of the U.S. fashion and entertainment industry.

Iconic author and historian Gore Vidal speaks with Robert Scheer about his new memoir, “Point to Point Navigation,” and the events that shaped his life and his country, from war with Hitler to the “waking nightmare” of Iraq.

News Corp. has canceled the publication of O.J. Simpson’s hypothetical misadventure “If I Did It,” along with its accompanying TV special. After making the announcement, Rupert Murdoch apologized to the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson for the “ill-considered project.”

Iran has invited the Iraqi and Syrian presidents to Tehran for a weekend summit to figure out how to curb the violence in Iraq. The invite is being regarded as another example of the newly empowered Iran upstaging potential U.S. efforts toward the same end.

Abortions were already illegal in Nicaragua, but today a law passed removing an exception in the previous law, which allowed a woman to obtain an abortion legally with the approval of three doctors who confirmed that the woman’s life was in danger. Many conservatives in government advocated 30-year prison terms for women who terminate their pregnancies and the doctors who perform the abortions, but the stricter prison terms did not pass. Currently the punishment is a six-year prison term. An estimated 32,000 illegal abortions are performed in Nicaragua each year.